


Taken

by stellarmeadow



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Case Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-11
Updated: 2011-03-11
Packaged: 2017-10-16 21:30:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/169549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hesse breaks out of jail, hell breaks loose for H50.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I actually started this one before the others I've posted, but it took a lot longer. Huge thanks to Cori Lannam for the quick beta and cheerleading - all mistakes are definitely mine and not for her lack of trying to get me to fix everything!

"We are going to catch serious shit," Danny said, trying to look stern. "You know that, don't you?"

Steve just grinned, head propped up on his fist, as he continued making various shapes with Danny's hair. Danny had stopped complaining about that five minutes ago, but he apparently still felt the need to protest, even if he wasn't exactly trying to get out of the bed. "Kono's going to kick both our asses," Danny pointed out. "Even worse--Chin will give us that patient, understanding and yet slightly disapproving of unnecessary tardiness face."

"What is it with you and people's faces?"

"I wouldn't necessarily expect you to understand, but normal human beings, we sometimes like to interact with expressions. Most of our species usually learns to read them to avoid things like conflict, hurt feelings, gunfire. You should look into it. I'm sure there are books."

"I can read expressions."

Danny scoffed. "And I can swim a mile underwater."

"Really?" Steve looked delighted. "We should go for a swim."

"See, that right there? That came with an expression that normal people would know means I was kidding."

"I knew you were kidding," Steve replied, still playing with Danny's hair. "But we should still go swimming."

"We should go to work."

Steve shook his head. "We cleared five cases last week. We've got nothing urgent pending, and they'll call us if something comes up. That is what we call on the island a good excuse to go in late on a Monday." His hand drifted out of Danny's hair down to cup his cheek. "Learn to relax a little, Danno," he said, leaning down for a kiss.

"I suppose it wouldn't kill us," Danny muttered between kisses. "I mean, they do know where to find us...."

"Exactly." Steve rolled off his side to sprawl across Danny's body, holding himself up just enough to slide a hand between them, fingers trailing down Danny's chest. He had almost reached his target when his cell phone started vibrating on the nightstand.

Cursing under his breath, Steve glanced at the screen. "It's Chin," he told Danny, reaching over to pull the phone off the nightstand and up to his ear. "Yeah?" he said as he rolled onto his back.

"Steve...."

His voice combined with his hesitancy made Steve sit up, all thoughts of relaxation gone. "What happened?"

"Hesse escaped."

"When?"

"Some time during the night," Chin replied. "He was there for lights out, but by morning he had vanished. Kono and I are on our way out to Halawa now."

Steve was already climbing out of bed. "We'll meet you there," he said, ending the call and tossing the phone onto the bed as he grabbed the nearest clothes he could find. "Hesse," he said to Danny, while hopping into cargo pants, "is out."

"What?" Danny jumped out of bed, yanking open the drawer he'd claimed a couple of weeks before and pulling out clothes. "When?"

"Last night." Steve pulled on a shirt and stuffed his phone in his pants pocket. "Chin and Kono are on their way out to the prison."

Danny had his pants on and was buttoning his shirt. "Let's go," he said, stuffing his tie in his pocket and shoving his gun into its holster on his hip as he headed for the door, still working on buttons.

He stopped when he didn't hear Steve behind him and turned to find Steve still by the bed, staring at his gun in his hand. "How the hell did he get out?"

"I do not know, but I do know we're not going to find out in your bedroom."

"Right." Steve shook himself a little and holstered his Sig. "Let's go."

***


	2. Chapter 2

Danny didn't complain about Steve's driving as they raced up the Moanalua. He simply gripped the door to avoid getting thrown around too much as Steve whipped in and out of traffic, and tried to focus more on ways to find Hesse and less on the possible consequences of tracking him yet again. They'd barely managed to escape with Chin's life last time, and still had no idea how they'd escaped with their careers, let alone their freedom.

"We've burned a lot of his contacts already," Danny said, raising his voice a little to be heard over the roar of the Camaro's engine, "unless Sang Min's still hanging around."

"Not likely," Steve replied, eyes on the road. "We'd know by now."

Given their contacts, that was the logical assumption, but also given that Hesse himself had been lying low right under their noses for months before they discovered him, it wasn't necessarily true. "Maybe."

"He's an expert in getting out of the country," Steve said. "Why would he stay?"

Danny could think of a few reasons, but he only said, "We should cover all of our bases." A quick call to HPD had alerts out on Sang Min and a few other people they knew might still help Hesse, for the right price.

By the time he hung up, they were pulling up beside 5-0's blue Traverse. Chin and Kono were standing next to it, talking to a guard, as Danny and Steve approached.

Chin detached himself from the conversation, leaving Kono to finish with the guard. "It's possible he had help," Chin said as he joined Danny and Steve. "One of the night guards was missing this morning, too."

"Has anybody dragged the nearest body of water for the guard's body?" Danny asked. "Knowing Hesse and his fondness for tying up loose ends...."

"Nobody's looking for a body yet," Chin said, "but the guard's car is Lojacked, and they've got a stationary signal about ten miles away."

"Text us the coordinates," Steve said, already moving back to the driver's side of the car.

Danny jumped into the passenger seat, pulling up the text from Chin. He had the map up before Steve was fully outside the prison compound and started giving directions. "You realize the chances of Hesse being so unbelievably stupid to still be with the guard's car with the Lojack still active are ridiculously low."

"I do." Steve spared him a quick glance. "Do you have a better lead we should be following?"

Danny thought for a moment. "I suppose you have a point."

"I thought so."

They found the car abandoned on the side of the road, the driver's side door still open. The engine had long gone cold, as had the body of the guard sitting upright in the passenger seat. From a distance he looked as if he might be sleeping. The bullet through his temple and large blood splatter on the back passenger side window, however, dispelled the illusion quickly.

Steve was about to get into the driver's seat when Danny stopped him. "Hey!" he said, pulling a kit out of the Camaro's trunk and slamming it shut. "Gloves?

"You really think Hesse left any clues?"

"I think Hesse was in a hurry escaping from prison and if he did mess up, I am not about to let you ruin it by rushing in without taking five seconds to put on a pair of gloves." He tossed a pair of latex gloves to Steve, who shoved his hands into them before crawling into the car. "And be careful! That's evidence!" Danny flexed his fingers to stretch out his own gloves as he went around to the passenger side and peered in through the window.

Steve was pulling a piece of paper from the guard's shirt pocket. The top of the car was blocking Danny's view of what was on the paper, and he opened the door, leaning in to get a better look just as Steve started scrambling out. "Get in the Camaro," Steve shouted, already running for the driver's side. Danny didn't think twice, he jumped into the other seat, the force of Steve slamming on the gas jerking the door shut for him. They'd gotten maybe two hundred yards when the explosion went off, the wave hitting the car like a solid object, even from that distance, though thankfully not bad enough to do any real damage.

Danny stared at the burning vehicle, now on its roof, wheels spinning and smoking helplessly in the air. "How did you--" he stopped to clear his throat. "How did you know that was about to happen?"

Wordlessly, eyes still on the fire, Steve handed him the piece of paper from the guard's pocket. No, not a piece of paper, Danny realized. A picture. Of the remains of the car explosion that had killed Steve's mother. "This was in the evidence Hiro stole."

"It's a copy," Steve said, watching the flames. "Paper's too new to be the original."

"Either way, how did it end up on a prison guard?"

Steve shook his head, turning his head to meet Danny's gaze. "Hesse put that there for me to see before he blew me up," he said with certainty."But how did he get it?"

"We should search the area," Danny said, even as he heard sirens growing closer. "If he stayed to trigger the bomb--"

"He didn't. The passenger door triggered the countdown. I heard the trigger."

"Of course you did, you and your Super SEAL ears would hear a pin drop during an explosion. Jesus." Danny ran a hand through his hair, staring at the flames again. He heard tires screech to a halt and then his door was being opened, and he looked up to see Chin standing there.

Chin leaned down to look across at Steve. "You're both all right?"

"Fine," Steve said. "Tell Halawa we found their guard," he added, nodding at the burning wreck, which was being doused by emergency workers.

"I take it he's not going back to work?" Chin asked.

Danny shook his head. "Another in the long line of people whose last job was for Victor Hesse."

They left the scene in the hands of HPD and rescue and headed back to HQ. They were only a few minutes away from the office when Danny's phone rang. He recognized the number as one of his HPD contacts and answered with a quick, "Got something for me?"

"Kishimoto was just taken to the ER at Queen's."

"When?"

"Ten minutes ago."

Danny said thanks and ended the call. "Take a detour to Queen's," he said, already gripping the door for the u-turn he knew was coming. "Kishimoto's in the ER."

The car spun and shot forward again, and in minutes they were skidding to a halt in the drive at Queen's, jumping out of the car and rushing inside. The desk nurse directed them to an exam room just a few steps from her desk, and they yanked the curtain aside to find Kishimoto looking largely unscathed, save for a bandage on the side of his head, just above his ear. "I had a feeling I might see you," he said, nodding to the bodyguards he'd managed to get the hospital to allow to stay. They nodded back and stepped outside, pulling the curtain closed.

"Have you heard from Hesse?" Steve asked without preamble.

"Where do you think I got this?" Kishimoto replied, pointing at the bandage. "He took out my favorite bodyguard in the process. This does not endear him to me."

"Where is he?" Steve demanded.

Kishimoto sniffed, touching the bandage this time. "This was my gift for helping you last time. Why should I help you again?"

"Because either you tell us," Steve said, moving closer to Kishimoto's side, "or I will lock you up for obstruction of justice and make sure Hesse ends up in your cell when we catch him."

Kishimoto stared Steve down for about ten seconds before the corners of his mouth turned down ever so slightly. "It is possible I may have heard him mention an address," he said.

"And that address is?"

"237 Madeira."

Steve turned to look at Danny. "That's just a few minutes from 5-0."

"Too close," Danny replied, already on his way out the door, hearing Steve's boots squeaking right behind him.

They jumped into the car and sped off, sirens and lights off. Most of HPD knew the car on sight and wouldn't dare stop them for speeding, and they wouldn't be doing themselves any favors by alerting Hesse to their approach. Steve called Chin and told him to hurry over with backup and hung up. Danny stared out the side window for a moment before speaking. "I didn't know you knew what obstruction of justice was."

"Shut up."

"I'm a good influence on you, this is all I am saying."

Steve flashed him a grin as he swerved around a corner. Moments later they made it to Madeira. Steve slowed down, pulling up to the curb about a block from the address. "Around the back," he said, climbing out of the car.

"We should wait for back up." At Steve's somewhat affectionate you're-not-seriously-still-trying-that look, Danny rolled his eyes. "Clearly I am not a good enough influence on you," he muttered, following Steve around to the back of the house. They crept up the labyrinth of stairs behind the house as carefully as possible, ducking down to hide behind the wall until it was too low for them to hide behind. Once they were on the porch, Steve tried the door, frowning as it turned and opened. He looked at Danny, but before Danny could suggest that perhaps walking straight into something that might be a trap, Steve pushed the door open the rest of the way and snuck in, leaving Danny no choice but to follow.

They cleared the rooms quickly, with no sign of Hesse, and stopped in the front room, looking around. "We knew it was a long shot," Danny said.

"I know, it's just--" Steve stopped, frowning at the coffee table. He stepped over to it and picked up something.

Danny moved closer and realized it was the same picture that Hesse had left on the dead guard in the car. "Please tell me that doesn't mean we're about to get--"

A familiar ping sounded, combined with shattering glass, and Danny watched Steve crumple to the ground. Before he could move, he registered a second ping, and then everything was dark.

***


	3. Chapter 3

"Steve? Hey, Steve."

Groaning, Steve rolled onto his side, wondering why the bed was so hard and what Kono was doing there. "What the--" The pain in his backside, combined with the one in his head, was a clue. "Tranq dart?" he asked, blinking up at Kono from the floor.

"Yeah." She held it up. "Don't worry, I won't tell Danny I touched your ass."

He laughed, then groaned at the pain in his head. A pain that was not being made worse by a tirade from his partner. He frowned as he looked around. "Where is Danny?"

"We were kind of hoping you could tell us that."

"He..." Steve concentrated. They'd checked the house, and then there was the picture, and then...nothing. "He was here."

He looked around as if Danny might just be out of sight, but there was no sign of him in the room. "He wasn't here when you showed up?"

"Not a sign. We only just got here along with HPD. We thought he might've gone after someone, but we figured it was odd that he didn't call. That's as far as we'd gotten in the thought process when you woke up."

"Did you try his cell?"

"Not yet." She pulled out her own and dialed. The phone hadn't made it to her ear when they heard "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" blaring from under the coffee table. Kono bent over to retrieve Danny's phone, cutting off the call to sudden silence. She turned wide eyes on Steve, who'd managed to get himself into a sitting position against the couch, before handing the phone to him.

Neither of them wanted to say it. Steve cleared the missed call from Kono and noticed a new text message from an unidentified number. His heart already in his stomach, he clicked on it, the picture that popped up sending his heart through the floor. Danny, eyes closed, mouth taped, and definitely not in this house. He held it up for Kono to see, and she covered her mouth with her hand for a second. "Hesse?" she asked, after a moment, her hand dropping to her side.

"Has to be," Steve replied. He looked at the picture one more time, fighting back the nausea, then shut the screen off. The phone he placed carefully in a side pocket on his pants before he stood up, clear eyed and focused. "I want HPD tracking down and interviewing every person Hesse has even sneezed on. Now. Then I want you and Chin back at HQ with me to go over what we know about him."

Kono nodded and hurried off. Steve felt in his pocket for keys and sighed with relief that at least he still had the keys to the Camaro, so hopefully Hesse hadn't taken it again. He went out onto the porch and scanned the houses beyond the flashing police lights, but his gut told him Hesse was long gone with Danny.

One last scan and one deep breath, before he spotted Chin a few yards away, talking to a neighbor. He went over and tapped him on the shoulder, told him he was going back to HQ, and to let him know if they got anything, and walked off down the street.

The Camaro was still there, right where he and Danny had left it. Where Danny had tried once again to get him to wait for back up, he remembered, as he sat down behind the wheel and slammed the door shut. Back up, he thought, as he started the car and gunned the engine, that would have been waiting out front when Hesse shot them with the darts and prevented Hesse from hauling Danny's unconscious body out to take him God only knew where.

He was pretty the fact Steve had finally learned that lesson would not be nearly enough to keep Danny from being pissed at him when they found him.

***


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing Danny noticed when he woke was that he was not in the house. The floor was definitely as hard, but the house wouldn't be moving, bumping over potholes and making engine and squeaky suspension noises. The house also hadn't been quite as dark as he could tell his current surroundings were, even without opening his eyes.

Not that he was exactly sorry for the lack of light--given his headache, it was just as well. He'd kept his eyes closed out of self-defense until he'd realized that it was probably even better self-defense to keep them closed and pretend to still be unconscious. He had no idea who might be watching him.

Feigning sleep, he listened for any sound that might be a clue as to where they were headed, just in case he had a chance to send a message. He wished he'd let Steve show him more of the island, and promised himself he would once he got out of this mess. But the road was relatively flat and mostly steady, which left out a significant portion of the island where hills and mountains were unavoidable. One of the highways, judging by the lack of stopping, and a long one, judging by the length of time, so, they were probably headed to the North Shore.

Of course, if he was Hesse and he'd just kidnapped Danny, he'd want to get as far the fuck away from Steve as he could, too.

He was better off if they were headed to the North Shore than he was if Hesse was headed to the air field for a plane, which was a possibility. Remaining on the island put him maybe an hour's drive--or 45 minutes, if it was Steve--from the team. A flight...he could end up anywhere.

They rolled to a stop, and the engine shut off, and he made himself relax as much as possible to appear asleep as the back doors to the vehicle opened, letting in the sun. No use letting them know he was awake until he'd had a chance to gather some information. Besides, the bastards deserved to have to carry him.

***


	5. Chapter 5

Steve marched into HQ and made a beeline for the main computer station. He pulled up the files on Hesse, studying everything as if he hadn't memorized most of it long before he'd even set foot back in Hawaii. He focused mainly on the newer information, though, things they'd gathered as a team since he'd gone to check out his father's murder and accidentally landed himself a partner.

He smiled to himself, remembering Danny with his badge upside down, hastily turning it around before most people would've noticed. Then again, most people would have been too busy staring at the gun trained on them to notice, and a badge was still a badge, no matter the direction.

It seemed like ages ago, not months. Too many remembered conversations echoed around him in the silence of the office, until he wanted to plug his ears just to concentrate on the evidence in front of him. Evidence that was going to get Danny back, he told himself, and pushed everything else into a box in a back corner of his mind and locked it away, leaving his mind clear to focus on the task at hand.

He'd just started sorting the information into useable groups when Chin and Kono arrived. "Anything from the house?"

"Nothing," Chin replied. "Looks like Hesse was probably only there long enough to leave you the picture, then he set up in a house across the street to wait. We found where he'd broken into a house for sale, but there was nothing else there."

Even though he'd expected as much, it didn't make it any easier to hear. "All right, I've been going through what we have on Hesse." Steve flicked two of the folders on the table screen with his finger, and the contents appeared on the overhead monitors. "These are his known contacts on the island," he said, pointing to the monitor on the right.

"You mean the ones we haven't put away yet?" Kono said, and he could hear the smirk in her voice.

He gave her the amused nod he knew she was expecting and turned his attention back to the monitors. "The ones on the left are known associates from before Hesse came to Hawaii. We need to keep an eye out for any of these people coming to the island or making any move that looks like they might be helping Hesse. I can--"

Danny's phone beeped from Steve's pocket. He looked down at his leg, swallowing before pulling it out to see a new message waiting. He tapped on the message, instinctive fear at the image attached fighting with relief that it wasn't worse. Danny was lying on the floor of some non-descript room, hands and feet bound with duct tape, his mouth covered as well. His clothes were dirty, his hair was a mess, but he looked largely unharmed otherwise, and Steve managed to let some air out of his lungs.

He put the phone down on the computer table and tapped a few buttons to bring it up on the screen, blowing it up to maximum resolution. "Kono," he said, staring at the image, "find me some hint in here of where he is."

"On it, boss," she said, fingers already flying over the virtual keyboard to start photo analysis.

"Chin, call HPD and DHS. I want all of these contacts monitored. If anyone balks, tell them the next time they hear that order, it will be from the Governor."

"Got it." Chin paused. "What are you going to do?"

Steve stared at the phone, some of the previous texts having finally caught his attention. "Someone has to tell Rachel."

He grabbed Danny's phone and marched off to his office before Chin could say anything else. Only when he was seated behind his desk and had taken a deep breath did he pick up the receiver on the desk phone and punch in the numbers to Rachel's cell. She answered on the third ring, voice already exasperated. "Daniel, I told you we were going to be at a--"

"Rachel, it's not Danny."

There was a pause. "Oh, hello Commander. When I saw the number, I assumed--"

"I know. Look...there's no easy way to say this...Danny's been taken."

"Taken?"

Her sharp intake of breath made him realize it was a bad word choice. "Kidnapped," he clarified, hating the word. It made it seem more menacing and real. "So far, he seems fine."

"You've spoken with him?"

"No, not yet. We got a picture."

"Do you know who has him?"

Steve swallowed, his mouth dry. "We're pretty sure, yeah." He didn't know if Danny had said anything to her about Hesse at all, and he didn't want her knowing it was his fault Danny was being held. Not yet. "We're doing everything we can to find him, Rachel. They're just playing with us now, but they'll get tired of that soon enough and we'll find out what they really want." He had a good idea what that was, too, but he wasn't about to go there in his own mind yet, let alone to Rachel.

"Do you have any idea how long this might take?"

She was seriously worried about her schedule? "No, I'm sorry, is Danny's kidnapping eating into your social schedule?"

"I don't give a damn about my schedule," she said sharply. "I do give a damn about whether or not to worry my daughter by telling her about her father being kidnapped."

He closed his eyes for a moment. "Rachel, I'm sorry. I'm just...." He didn't even know how to explain it.

"It's all right," she said, "I understand." And from her tone, he thought she might understand better than he did. "We both want him back, Steve."

He smiled a little at the drop in formality. "Right," he said, squeezing the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. "I don't think there's any point in worrying her just yet," he said, straightening up in the chair. "If this goes well, he could be back in time to call and tell her goodnight."

"And if it doesn't go well?"

"It will." He looked down at Danny's phone, lying on the table. The screen saver picture of Grace had kicked in. "Tell Grace he said to tell her Danno loves her, and he'll talk to her later."

"Did he say that?"

"He would have."

"You know him well."

Steve laughed a little. "He never shuts up. It's hard not to learn a few things about him."

"You really do know him well," she said, her voice a little lighter. "I'll give Grace the message. You'll call me as soon as you know something?"

"I will. Or Danny will call you himself."

"I hope so. Thank you for letting me know."

"Of course."

"Good luck."

She rung off, so he put the phone back on the base, staring at Danny's cell a few seconds longer before putting it back in his pocket and pushing out of the chair. He found Chin at the computer table. "All set?" Steve asked.

Chin nodded. "If any of Hesse's old buddies try to help him, we'll know."

Given how many 'old buddies' Hesse had, Steve wasn't so sure--they could only do so much to monitor them. "I was looking at the Hawaiian connections," Steve said, going around to the other side of the table to bring one of the pictures to the foreground. "I think this--"

Danny's phone rang this time, the generic tone for an unidentified number, and Steve yanked it out of his pocket. The number was unfamiliar, and he nodded at Chin, who immediately opened a trace on the call as Steve hit the speaker button. "Hello?" Steve said, gripping the phone tightly.

"Steve." Hesse sounded far too cheery, and Steve wanted to kick his teeth in. "You never called, you never wrote, never came to see me. Just what do I have to do to get your attention?"

"You have it now," Steve ground out.

"I thought I might," Hesse said. He'd gone from cheery to smug, and Steve thought maybe force feeding him a grenade might be better than just kicking his teeth in. "Sorry it took a little trial and error to find the right trigger. But then, I guess no one can be right every time."

Steve put the phone down before he broke it, glancing at the trace bouncing around the computer screen. "It's a shame you can't enjoy the attention, since you're not here. Why don't you tell me where you are and I'll come show you how attentive I can be."

"Tsk tsk tsk. Such impatience. I've had months to plan this. I think I'd like to savor it a bit first."

He heard noises in the background over the phone, and then a roar that no one who'd ever heard a Danny Williams rant could mistake for anyone other than him. The words ran together a bit, but Steve caught "son of a bitch" and "kill you" in there somewhere before the sickening sound of fists hitting flesh, and then a rip, and silence again.

"I'm afraid I'll have to keep him quiet a little longer until he's learned some manners," Hesse said. "In fact, I think it's time for the good detective to have a few lessons."

"Hesse? Hesse!" It was no use; he'd hung up. Steve looked at Chin. "Tell me you got him."

He could tell by the look on Chin's face he hadn't, even as he registered Chin's head shake. "He's using VOIP. The trace went to California. Maybe Google. There's no way to be sure until I do some digging, but between volume and warrants it can take days to track those numbers down.

"Fuck!" Steve slammed his fist down on the edge of the computer table so hard Danny's phone took a little hop. He pushed away from the table, running his hands through his hair and holding his head with his forearms as if it could keep him from falling apart. He couldn't let this get to him if he wanted to be of any use to Danny. That was what Hesse was hoping for with his call. He was doing everything he could to break Steve, and Danny's survival depended on Steve not allowing that to happen.

"Danny sounded like he was holding up," Chin said quietly.

Steve sniffed, dropping his hands to his sides and forcing his shoulders into some semblance of relaxation. "An honest-to-goodness target for his rage is giving him year's worth of material. He's probably loving it." The lie didn't help, but it was necessary, he thought, teasing Danny, even if he wasn't here, was part of how he got through the day. He took another deep breath, shoving everything else out of his head before focused on the overhead monitor. "So, about this guy...."

***


	6. Chapter 6

Danny was giving Hesse the laser glare, his nostrils flaring as he sucked in air to fuel his rage. His mouth still stung where the tape had been ripped off, then new tape hastily slapped back on, and his jaw burned from being pistol whipped, but he hoped Steve, at least, had enjoyed the rant.

Hesse seemed to find the whole thing amusing. He leaned against the far wall, gun in one hand, pushing his phone into his pocket with the other as he studied Danny. "I think your boyfriend likes my attention." The chair rattled as Danny struggled against his restraints again, muffled curses doing him no good and only serving to make Hesse laugh out loud. "Don't worry," Hesse said, pushing off the wall and stalking over to Danny's chair in the middle of the room, "he's not my type."

His comment about Hesse's type being dead animals was lost in the duct tape as Hesse leaned down to run the muzzle of his gun along Danny's cheek. "Go ahead," Hesse said in a low voice, mouth near Danny's ear. "Fight. It's so much more fun that way."

So, he was amused by Danny's rage? Fine. Danny would just have to be stoic and unflappable. He forced himself to relax, taking deeper, slower breaths, his eyes following Hesse as he paced a few steps away. "Oh, have we calmed down now?" Hesse asked after a minute. "Going to be a good boy?"

Danny made a show of thinking about it before he shrugged and nodded. Hesse smiled and moved back to Danny's side, ripping the tape off his mouth. "I want to commend you for your persistence," Danny said casually.

"Oh?"

He nodded. "Steve shoots you in the chest, you come back for more. He kicks your ass and throws it in jail, you come back for more. You are not what they would call easily deterred."

"I have my reasons."

"I'm sure you do. But you see, Victor," Danny shifted a little, testing the restraints, but they were solid, "you have failed to learn the one thing that you can always count on with Steve McGarrett."

Hesse raises an eyebrow. "You would be the authority on the good Commander, wouldn't you?"

"You are correct. And as the authority, I can assure you that he does not fuck up often. And when he does, he rarely makes the same mistake twice."

Some of Hesse's amusement faded. "Is there a point to your ramblings?"

"There is a point, there is a definite point. And my point is this: Steve has left you alive twice, and instead of doing the smart thing and saying aloha to this place, you keep waving your red flag at the bull."

"Is this where you warn me to be wary of the horns?"

Danny shook his head. "It's not the horns you have to worry about. It's the bullets." He keeps his voice as conversational as he can. "And right now, I would lay odds on all the bullets in McGarrett's gun having your name on them."

"And that's supposed to scare me? He's shot me before."

"Exactly my point. He aimed too low. And I believe I mentioned he does not make the same mistake twice."

Hesse snorted. "You're really rather adorable with your solid belief that your man will come and save you."

"It is not a belief. It is a one hundred percent certainty. You can count on it." He grinned. "Unless, of course, I save myself first."

"Not much chance of that if you're unconscious." Danny didn't have time to flinch before the pistol connected with the back of his head.

***


	7. Chapter 7

Steve rubbed his eyes before he glanced at his watch. Five hours, twenty-two minutes since he'd woken to find out Danny was gone, and they still didn't have him back. He knew what Hesse wanted; there was no doubt in his mind. He just didn't know how long Hesse was going to make him suffer before making his demand so they could get this over with. And he was not good with waiting.

Chin walked into Steve's office, and Steve sat up a little straighter. "Anything?" he asked, slouching back into the chair when Chin shook his head.

"HPD has had several leads that turned out to be bogus." Chin sat on the corner of Steve's desk. "Either there are half a dozen Victor Hesses running around out there, or we're chasing our tails."

"I should've seen this coming."

To Steve's surprise, Chin laughed. "I owe Kono twenty bucks."

"Sorry?"

"I was convinced this would have to drag on for at least eight hours to get around to blaming yourself. She called five."

Steve's faint smile was gone almost before it was fully formed. "Doesn't change the fact that I brought this on. Danny's only gone because Hesse wants to get to me."

"Danny's gone because he became a cop, and a damn good one," Chin said. "If it hadn't been Hesse it could've been any one of hundreds of other people he's helped take down."

"Yeah, I'll let you explain that to Grace."

"It's not going to come to that." When Steve said nothing, Chin's foot nudged Steve's knee. "You feel that badly about Danny being captured, maybe you should quit moping and do something about it.

Rubbing at his eyes again, Steve took a deep breath. "You're right. Blame isn't going to fix anything." He looked at the computer screen with new focus, staring at the burned out shell of a car.

"That the picture Hesse left behind?"

Steve nodded. "He left it both places, and I can't figure out why."

"To mess with your head?"

"Other than that." Steve went back and forth between the two images a few times before putting them on the screen side by side. "There's something off, but I can't put my finger on it."

"How about letting Kono have a crack at it?"

Steve nodded, tapping in a few words and sending the files to her. "There's one more thing that's off," he said, his gaze shifting to Danny's phone, sitting on his desk. "How did Hesse know?"

"Know what?"

"How did he know to go after Danny? We haven't exactly taken out an ad."

Chin snorted. "You don't have to take out an ad, my friend. The two of you are like neon signs."

Steve frowned. "Really?"

"Really. Most people just shrug it off, but anyone who looks closely...I hate to break it to you, brah, but you don't exactly have a poker face when it comes to Danny."

He stared at Chin for a moment as if he expected him to soften the statement, then shrugged. "Still...he didn't know before he went into Halawa, or he would've gone after Danny, not you, last time. So how has he been looking closely from behind prison bars?"

"He couldn't be," Chin said slowly. "Which means someone's been keeping tabs and reporting back."

"We need the prison visitor logs."

Chin was already pushing off the desk. "On it," he said, heading for the door.

Left with nothing to do but wait, Steve looked at the pictures of his mother's car explosion again, squinting as if it might help. They looked identical, but there was still something--

Danny's phone rang with another unidentified number, and Steve grabbed it and ran out to the main computer. Even if they hadn't gotten a trace last time, it would be stupid not to at least try. Kono moved away from the table and Chin started the trace just as Steve hit the speaker phone. "Victor."

"Hello, Steve. How are you holding up?"

"A lot better than you're going to be if you don't end this now."

"Oh, now, is that any way to talk to someone who calls bearing gifts?

Steve gripped the edge of the computer table. "Gifts?"

"Your boyfriend is an excellent conversationalist," Hesse said. "He bleeds nicely, too." He heard sickening sounds, his mind all too quickly providing the image of Danny getting hit a few times. "Unfortunately, as much fun as it is imagining you suffering there, it's not nearly as much fun as watching you suffer in person."

"Why don't you tell me where you are and we can fix that."

" I think it's almost time I trade up for a much taller, tougher model." He heard Danny protest at that, followed by more of those sickening thuds and cracks. "I want to trade Williams for you."

"Fine. Where and when?"

He heard Danny yelling that he'd better not, or Danny would personally kick his ass, then a few more punches, and nothing else in the background. "I suppose it'll have to be soon--he might not survive to be traded at this rate."

"If he dies, you've got nothing to leverage against me," Steve said as rationally as he could manage.

"True, but think of what fun it'll be to go to another funeral. I enjoyed the last one, by the way. A little loud with the salute, but very classy otherwise."

Steve thought his jaw might actually break from tension. "Where and when," he ground out.

"I'll call you soon to let you know the time and place."

Just like that he was gone. Steve looked at Chin, who just shook his head. "VOIP--great, cheap calls for customers, very bad for the police." He studied Steve for a moment. "You know if you go in there to trade he's going to kill you both."

"I know. You tell me what other options I have. Please, list them all out." Steve waited, eyes wide, the picture of mock patience, but Chin had nothing. He looked at Kono, but she was silent as well. "Exactly. So I go in with the appearance of whatever terms Hesse demands, and we do the best we can from there."

"I don't like it," Chin said.

"Then find Hesse before we have to go through with it," Steve snapped, grabbing Danny's cell and storming off to his office. He threw himself into his chair, which rolled into the wall. Not satisfied with that, he picked up a pen cup from his desk and threw it against the other wall. The stapler and tape dispenser followed it before he gave up, sinking back into the chair and burying his head in his hands with a growl. Once again, Hesse was five steps ahead of him, and once again, he had the fate of someone Steve loved right in his hands.

He'd known the moment Hesse had called about his father that there was no hope. He'd accepted it, tried anyway, but the second the call had come in, he'd resigned himself in some tiny part of his brain. He'd locked some of the pain away before the shot even went off. He loved his father, but he'd learned how to live without him early on.

But Danny...Danny was different. He'd busted into Steve's life and just fit. Steve hadn't seen his father in years and he'd rarely missed him in his travels. And when he did, a phone call was enough to fix that. Danny he missed if he took the day off, even if they talked on the phone. It had taken him a while to learn how to live with that need, then how to live with Danny, but now that he had, he knew one thing with absolute certainty.

He did not, under any circumstances, want to learn to live without Danny.

***


	8. Chapter 8

Danny winced as he moved his head, ignoring the part of his brain that told him to keep pretending he was out. He'd heard the end of the phone call, and he knew that Steve would give in to whatever demand Hesse made and just hope for the best. Because he was Steve. Stupid, impulsive, crazy, save everyone Steve.

He also knew what Hesse's funeral taunt would be doing to Steve right about now. He'd give anything to take Hesse out himself just for that--as if Hesse hadn't done enough to Steve already, all for the loss of one worthless brother.

Footprints sounded loud in Danny's aching head, but they faded slightly before a door opened. He heard Hesse talking with someone else--accent different than Hesse's, not local...Chinese? Danny strained his ears. Japanese?

The door closed before he could tell for sure, and he made a show of looking as if he was just waking up as Hesse approached. "Awake so soon?" he said. "I'm impressed."

"Well, then, my work here is done," Danny replied, blinking up at him. "Don't suppose that means you could let me go now?"

"Are you complaining about my hospitality, Detective?"

"Who, me? No, not at all. This is better than a spa."

Hesse leaned against a nearby wall, studying Danny. "I have to wonder," he said after a moment, "how dear, straight-laced Steve puts up with your mouth."

Danny laughed. "Straight-laced? You obviously don't know him."

"Well, I wouldn't presume to claim the _intimate_ knowledge of him you have," Hesse said with every bit of innuendo he could manage. "But he did spend five years chasing me. I would like to think I know him a little."

"If you knew him, then you would've known better than to leave pictures of his mother's murder scene behind for him. Really, as taunts go, that was pretty stupid for anyone with even a modicum of survival instinct."

Even with his slightly blurred vision, Danny could see instantly that Hesse didn't know what Danny was talking about. He covered quickly, but not quickly enough. "Was it now? I would think that would be extra special torture for Steve."

"Really? You wouldn't understand what seeing her body lying on the ground would do to his resolve to make you bleed when he catches you?"

" _If_ he catches me," Hesse said. "And I quite like the idea of him staring at his dead mother while wondering what I'm off doing with you. I thought it was inspired." He frowned. "What are you so happy about?" he snapped. "Imagining some scenario where he actually saves you?"

Danny continued to smile. "The odds are in his favor," he said.

"Ask his father about that one. Oh, wait. You can't."

The smile stayed on his face, but he didn't rise to the bait. He was too busy processing the information he'd learned. One, Hesse had been surprised about the pictures. Two, Hesse had no clue what was really on them--Danny had those pictures almost as memorized as Steve did, and Steve's mother wasn't even visible in any of them.

Conclusion--Steve wasn't the only predator on Hesse's ass.

Which might work in Danny's favor. If he didn't get caught in the crossfire. Steve finding him sooner rather than later still seemed like the safest option. "I'm bored," Danny said, faking a small, careful yawn and trying to ignore the pain in his jaw as he did.

"I'm sorry, kidnappings don't usually come with entertainment." Hesse laughed. "Unless of course you count the fun of watching Steve's face when I shoot you." He tilted his head, thinking for a moment. "Maybe I'll shoot you both at the same time. Then you can watch each other die."

This was getting old. If he could get Hesse to at least call Steve again, maybe he could at least drop a hint in there somewhere about the pictures, about another player out there. It could give Steve a new lead. "Wouldn't you have to actually set up a meet to do that? You're going to have to face your fears at some point, Hesse."

"You think I'm afraid of Steve McGarrett?"

"Shitting your pants terrified, if you want to know the truth."

He received a punch in the face for that. "Fuck you, detective," Hesse said, and after two more punches, Danny thought it might be safe to pretend to be unconscious again. He listened to Hesse's footsteps wander off once more, heard cell phone buttons being pushed, and a conversation too low to catch the words before it ended. Hesse returned, a muted thud sounding that meant Hesse had settled in against the wall to guard his prisoner once more.

Let him. Danny wasn't giving him the satisfaction of 'waking up' for a while yet. Not until he was willing to call Steve, or Steve showed up, whichever came first.

***


	9. Chapter 9

Steve had managed to throw four other objects off his desk at varying moments of anger before he finally convinced himself that was doing nobody any good. Danny was already going to bitch about the paperwork to replace everything as it was. He was spinning Danny's phone on the table absently, watching Grace's head go round and round as he thought about what connection to Hesse he could be missing, and trying not to think about having to tell Grace her Danno was dead.

The door opened and Kono took one step inside, hands raised. "Can I come in, or is it still a war zone?"

"Do you have news on Hesse?"

"No."

"Then no, you can't come in."

She twisted her mouth into a half smile. "That hasn't worked on me since my first month here."

"You know, sometimes I really miss the SEALs. People there were actually afraid of me."

"Oh we're all afraid of you," Kono said, a bit too cheerily. "But it's more about what you'll do to some perp one day, not of what you'll do to _us_."

He sighed. "I'm fine," he said, knowing that's why she was really standing here, and knowing that the faster she believed it was true, the faster she would go back to looking for Hesse. At her doubting look, he said, "I will be fine, if you just go find the bastard so we can get Danny back."

"Okay." She turned and left.

No sooner had the door swung behind her than his phone rang, startling him for a moment as he thought it was Danny's, then had to fish his own out of his pocket. Another unidentified number, but not the same one Hesse had used. He ran out to the other room anyway, hitting speaker as Chin pulled up the trace. "McGarrett."

"Commander. So good to hear your voice."

He knew that voice. "Sang Min. I should've known you were involved in this."

"From what I've heard about your search for me, I'd say you thought from the first I was involved."

"What do you want?"

"Really, Commander, you should be nicer to people trying to help you."

Steve laughed. "You want to help me?"

"I want Hesse out of the picture so he can't kill me, so yes, that means helping you."

Then it hit him. "Hesse is pissed you got away and you're afraid after he's done with me he's coming after you."

"He may be. I'd rather not find out. Besides, I owe you and the detective for breaking me out of jail."

"All right, then," Steve said, glancing at Chin, who was shaking his head about the trace, "help me."

"I might have heard that Hesse has your friend somewhere near Dillingham Airfield," Sang Min said. "But if I were you, I'd watch out for doors that go boom. Good luck."

The phone clicked, and Sang Min was gone. "No trace," Chin said unnecessarily.

"I don't think he's with Hesse anyway," Steve said.

"You're not buying that 'helping you' line?"

"I'm not discounting it," Steve said. "Or the fact that Hesse will probably kill Sang Min once he's done with me--especially since I might've let it slip that Sang Min's the one who gave him up the first time." He considered it. "Still, it's possible it's a trap."

"It's likely it's a trap."

Steve shrugged. "Either way, it's more than we had to go on before."

"True. Instead of an entire island, we have about 130 acres. Assuming he's even telling the truth, how do we search that?"

"We don't," Steve said, tapping a few screens on his cell phone and putting it to his ear.

Catherine answered on the second ring, which was good, since it usually meant she wasn't that busy. "What do you need?"

"I need satellite surveillance of Dillingham and the surrounding area. Any buildings that look like they might be defended."

"Not even bothering to pretend you're calling for any other reason this time?" she said lightly.

"Victor Hesse has Danny, Catherine, and this is my only lead."

She sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," she said, her voice sincere. "Hold on." He heard her tapping on the keyboard. "I'm looking at the area...there's a building about two miles from Dillingham, just off of Farrington Highway, right before the Mokuleia Colony. Looks like it has four armed guards, one at each corner. Sending you coordinates now."

"Can you get me thermals?"

"Steve, how many times do you think I can do this before I get into trouble?"

"Cath...it's _Danny_. I have to be sure. I don't have time to waste with bad intel."

More tapping. "Thermals confirm just the four guards outside. Inside shows two hot bodies--one upright, the other sitting."

"That's got to be him."

"Or it could be anyone in a chair." She sighed again. "I suppose it's no good telling you to be careful?"

"You know me."

"Exactly, and yet I'm telling you anyway. And Steve...I hope you find him."

He swallowed carefully. "I will. Thanks." He hung up and told Chin and Kono what she'd found. In under five minutes they were racing up the freeway, Steve's initial insistence on going ahead first in a helicopter having been overruled as Chin and Kono nearly carried him to the Traverse, citing the tactical advantage of weapons, ammo, back up and, most importantly, of not announcing his approach in a big, noisy helicopter.

He insisted on driving, however, and they let him, probably realizing he might go quietly insane if he didn't have at least that to focus on and control. He raced along the freeways, sirens wailing, zipping the SUV in and out of traffic as easy as if it was the Camaro. Chin and Kono were studying the blueprints of the building on Chin's tablet pc. "There are three entrances," Chin said. "A front door, a back door, and a large double door on the side."

"Okay," Steve said, swerving around a minivan, "we have to assume Sang Min was telling the truth about the doors being wired. And if there's one thing Hesse is good with, it's explosives."

"So you're saying we can't go in the doors?" Kono said.

"Well..." Steve paused to focus on driving down the rough shoulder of the road until there was another break in traffic, "they'd be relatively contained. Hesse wouldn't risk someone trying to come in while he's close enough to get caught in the explosion. And he has to have a way to disarm at least one of them, or he wouldn't be able to use it. But it's likely from the inside."

"'So you're saying we can't go in the doors," Kono repeated.

"Maybe. Or maybe we use that to our advantage."

Chin raised his eyebrows. "Good thing you stocked the armory," he said, jerking a thumb towards the back hatch.

"Be sure to tell Danny how handy it is," Steve said. "I don't know that he's forgiven me for stocking his car without telling him."

"We'll tell him soon."

Steve's mouth curled up slightly in one corner. "Yes. You will."

They made the trip out to the North Shore faster than anyone who didn't know Steve probably would have believed. Chin was watching the GPS on the tablet, and had Steve pull off on a road about half a mile from the building where Hesse was holed up. "We'll go on foot from here," Steve said. "The less warning the better."

"There's some tree coverage within shot range, well, shot range for you two with sniper rifles, anyway," Chin said with a grin.

They pulled out the weapons they would need and pushed through the slightly rough area of land separating them from Hesse's hideout. When they reached the end of the tree cover, they were close enough to see two of Hesse's henchmen, one at each corner of the building, keeping watch, AR15s slung over their shoulders. The men wandered back and forth between their corner and the middle of the building, occasionally stopping to exchange a few words. The building looked solid, with no windows, the only opening the large double doors that dominated the southern side they were facing.

Steve, Chin and Kono crept back into the trees a little more, and Steve turned to face the others. "Catherine said there were two more men on the other side," he whispered.

"There's no way to get there without being out in the open long enough for a blind man to spot you," Chin said.

"Okay, then, we wait until these two are in the middle, and Kono and I take them out at the same time. Once we do that, we have a very short window in which to make it to the other side of the building and take care of the others. Kono, take the west end, Chin, take the east after I take out one with the rifle."

Chin smirked. "And you're going right up the middle?"

"Just consider those doors the goal line," Steve said, making sure he had extra grenades, just in case.

He looked at Kono. "Ready?"

"Whenever you are," she said, checking her Ladysmith on her hip before picking up the R93 rifle.

Steve did the same with his Sig and his rifle, and they moved nearer the edge of the trees, getting into position to shoot while Chin covered their backs. "On three," Steve whispered. "One. Two. Three."

Two quiet shots, and before the men hit the ground, the team was up and running. Steve saw the other two breaking off to the sides, but his attention was focused on the double doors. He was pulling out a grenade as he ran, and as soon as he was even remotely close, he pulled the pin and aimed it straight for the middle of the double doors, ducking off to the side for cover as fast as he could.

The explosion was large enough that he knew Sang Min had been telling the truth about the doors--the grenade alone wouldn't have done that much damage. Hopefully he'd been truthful about everything else as well. The smoke was barely even thinking about clearing before Steve was inside the doors, finding the nearest cover, a large shelving unit stacked nearly to the ceiling with metal boxes at the near side of the room, and ducking behind it.

He heard coughing from the far end of the room, but no guns, no running and no yelling, which meant Kono and Chin were doing their jobs. No one was coming to help Hesse.

"You didn't play by the rules, Steve."

He hadn't let himself think that they might be wrong, but he knew the idea had been somewhere in the back of his mind from the sheer relief he felt knowing they were right. "I did, just not your rules," Steve called back.

"I make the rules," Hesse yelled. "And now you have to pay the price."

He shoved away the sudden strong memories of hearing the shot over the phone that took his father's life. "I think we've both paid enough," he said.

"Why don't you come out and we'll decide if you're right."

He ducked his head around the corner of the shelf to see what he was facing, and wasn't surprised to see Hesse standing behind Danny's chair, his gun pressing into Danny's temple. Danny's hands and feet were bound, and his mouth was taped shut again. Pulling back behind his cover once more, he went through what he'd seen. Danny was conscious, which was good, and Steve could tell he was pissed, which was better. He was also being totally, completely still, which Steve hoped meant he had some idea what the plan was and was just waiting for it.

"You can come out now, or you can come out to see what's left of your boyfriend," Hesse said.

Taking a deep breath, Steve stood and went around the corner gun first, his Sig trained on Hesse. "Let him go. You wanted me, I'm here."

"Oh, no. You broke the rules. The deal's off. Put down your gun."

"Put down yours." Hesse pushed the gun harder, and Danny's jaw tightened, the only sign that he'd felt anything.

Steve considered it for a moment. "If I put down my gun," he said, stepping closer with each breath, "what's to stop you from killing Danny?"

"Only my word," Hesse said, and even he couldn't manage not to sound amused at the very idea of that.

"So I put down my weapon and you give me your word that Danny goes free?"

"Of course."

Not, Steve finished for him. "Okay," he said, face towards Hesse, eyes on Danny's. After a long look, he let himself have just the tiniest hint of a smile. Danny was definitely on board with the plan. "I'm putting down my gun," he said, nodding at Danny this time.

Steve lowered himself slowly to his knee as if he was going to put the gun on the ground. He'd just made it to his knee when he aimed, yelling, "Now!" Danny rocked back, knocking Hesse in the chest with his head.

As Hesse struggled to keep his balance, Steve pulled the trigger several times. He stayed in place as Hesse staggered and fell on his back. When Hesse didn't move, Steve got up slowly, gun still trained on Hesse, but eyes on Danny to make sure he wasn't injured.

He wasn't, so Steve made sure Hesse was dead before kneeling beside Danny's chair. He heard Kono and Chin behind him, stopping to assess before crossing the room to them as Steve ripped the tape off Danny's mouth. "Fuck that hurts!" Danny said, working his mouth as if it might take away the sting.

"I'm surprised you even feel it," Steve said as he took out his knife and carefully went to work on the tight duct tape around Danny's wrists. "You've got about half a dozen injuries on your face that look like they hurt like hell." Steve saw Chin double-check on Hesse, then join Kono several feet away, where she was on the phone, calling HPD, he assumed.

"Unlike you, Super SEAL, most of us actually continue to feel pain even when it is heaped upon other pain. And, by the way, speaking of pain, oh pain in the ass of mine, what the hell were you thinking?"

Steve hid his grin, turning a blank face on Danny as he worked to free Danny's ankles. "What, when I was saving your life? I was thinking you might like to keep it."

"No, I mean coming out in the open like that. He could've shot us both."

"I knew he wanted to gloat first. That gave me time."

His limbs finally free, Danny went to stand and almost fell down instead. Only Steve's arm around his waist kept him from hitting the floor. "You based your strategy on over fifty viewings of Austin Powers?"

"No, I based it on over five years of chasing Hesse day and night. I know--knew--how his brain worked. I knew how much time I had."

Because he'd been through the other scenario already, a fact Danny suddenly seemed to remember. "Sorry," he said quietly, the rant gone for the moment. "I do appreciate the rescue. It certainly wasn't the best time I've had in Hawaii."

"Maybe you'll appreciate the rest of the state a little more now?"

"Don't count on it, babe."

He wanted to check every wound he saw, search out the ones he knew were hidden under the clothes, make sure none of them were serious, and, God help him, kiss them all better. But he could hear faint sirens in the distance, and Chin and Kono were standing discretely off to the side as if waiting for an invitation to come check on Danny themselves.

Steve settled for giving Danny a one-armed hug a moment longer. "Can you stand?"

"Can I stand? I'm not a toddler," Danny said, the ire back, and it made Steve want to kiss him that much more. He let go, nodding with satisfaction when there was only a slight waver before Danny managed to start walking around a little, stretching out sore muscles and thanking Chin and Kono, who gave him a big hug that made him wince, before he turned to look down at Hesse's body. "Nice job," he said admiringly.

"I just did what you told me."

Danny frowned at him. "My mouth was taped shut."

"No, when we were searching for him before. You told me to shoot him in the face next time. So I did."

"It would just figure that the one time you listen to me would be on an order to shoot someone."

"I listen to you all the time," Steve protested. "I listen to you in the car, I listen to you in the office, I listen to you in the house--all I do is listen to you."

"Okay, fine, the one time you actually heard me then."

Steve couldn't stop the grin any longer. It spread across his face, easing the tight pain in his cheeks from stress. "I could list a number of times I've heard you, Danno. Obeyed, even. Quite well."

Danny glared at him, a slight flush rising up his face. "What did I tell you about bringing that up in front of the kids?"

Brakes and the sound of tires throwing gravel accompanied Steve's laugh. He saw EMTs come through the door and all but pushed Danny into their hands, following just behind to make sure they checked everything, and that he knew what they said Danny had to do, because it was the only way to make sure Danny followed their advice. To the letter. While he listened, he texted Rachel that Danny was fine and would call soon.

For all his bravado, the lack of complaining Danny did about the EMTs, combined with the number of winces Steve noticed him trying to hide showed the true toll the day had taken on Danny. They did everything short of order Danny to go to the hospital, which led to Steve trying to order Danny to go to the hospital, and Danny telling him to fuck off. Steve settled for taking careful note of every instruction, even asking for the EMTs' cards, should he have questions.

Danny waited for them to disappear for a moment before smacking Steve on the arm. "Cards? Really? Are you at a business dinner?"

"What? I want to make sure I didn't miss anything."

"Okay, a, these are EMTs. Emergency Medical Technicians. They are not doctors, they don't do house calls. And b, you are not the one who is injured, so it is not imperative that you don't miss anything."

"I'm pretty sure house calls are actually a big part of the definition of an EMT's job, Danny."

And really, he shouldn't have enjoyed the sheer normality of Danny's irritation focused so fully on him. "You know what I mean. Also, in case you missed it, you are not the injured party here. You do not need a manual on how to take care of said injuries. That is up to me."

Steve was shaking his head before Danny had started his last sentence. "You're going to be sore as hell tomorrow and need someone to take care of you, especially since you refused to go to the hospital."

Danny rolled his eyes and gave a little shudder that Steve recognized as indignant capitulation. "I'm too tired to argue," Danny said, though Steve expected that to last all of sixty seconds, and then only if he was very lucky.

"Well, before you regain your argument strength, we'd better get you into the car." He hovered as Danny rose on his own strength and walked to the Traverse. Once Danny was safely in the passenger seat, Steve said he'd be right back. He found Kono and made sure she and Chin could get rides back with HPD, and told them to stop by later if they felt up to it. That done, he jumped into the Traverse and sped towards home.

Danny settled into the corner between the seat and the door so he could watch Steve, "So how did you figure out where Hesse was hiding?"

"Oh you'll love this--it was a thank you from Sang Min for helping him get out of prison."

He glanced over to see Danny blinking rapidly. "I suppose he owed us big for that," Danny said grudgingly. "And while I'd like to see him back behind bars, I can't say I'm entirely disappointed he 'repaid' us that way instead. But why did he really do it?"

"He was afraid Hesse was coming after him once he was through with me and figured if I took Hesse out, he was free and clear."

"Now that sounds more like him. I don't suppose you got a lead on him in the process?"

Steve shook his head. "Wasn't really my priority at the time, though Chin did try." He flashed Danny a grin. "Apparently VOIP is not our friend."

"Who's VOIP?"

"Never mind."

They drove in silence for a few minutes, Steve shooting covert glances at Danny to see his eyelids drooping a little, but he was doing his best to stay awake nonetheless. "Something you should know," Danny said, his words slurring a little. He pushed himself up straighter in the seat. "I asked Hesse about the pictures of your mother's car, just trying to see if I could at least gain anything useful while I was there. He didn't know what I was talking about."

"What?" Steve squinted at Danny. "What do you mean he didn't know?"

"He covered so fast I wasn't sure at first, but the more I had time to think about it, and the more I probed, I'm sure of it. He didn't know anything about the pictures."

It took Steve a moment to process that. "If he didn't know," Steve said slowly, "then where the hell did they come from?

"I can't answer that one, babe. But they did not come from Hesse."

"Did Hesse talk to anyone else while he had you?"

Danny shook his head. "He would occasionally go to the door and talk with one of his goons from outside, but I never heard him talk to anyone else."

"At least not while you were conscious."

At that, Danny snorted. "It would've been a quick conversation. I was probably only out for a few minutes total. I just played dead to see if I could overhear anything. And because it was a nice break from his attention."

Which left Steve contemplating all the injuries and the number of things Hesse must've done to cause them. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "It's my fault."

"You do not get to apologize for criminals, Steven."

He knew that tone, and new better than to say anything else about it, but it didn't stop him from feeling somewhat responsible. "So did you learn anything else from him?" he said instead.

Danny shook his head. "I couldn't really hear what he said when he talked to the others--he was quiet and they were always over by the door." He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Now who's apologizing for criminals?"

"Not exactly, but point taken." They were silent for a moment. "Not that I'm questioning our luck, but Sang Min? Really?"

"He had a good reason," Steve said, glancing at Danny. "Yeah, okay, it doesn't really sit well with me either." He gave Danny a longer look, taking in the slumped shoulders and tired eyes. "Something to think about," Steve said. "Later. First, you need to call Rachel."

Danny's eyes went wide. "You told Grace I was kidnapped?"

"No, and neither of us had any intention of telling her unless it dragged on. But I had to tell Rachel, and I texted her while the EMTs were checking you out and let her know you were okay, but I said you'd call."

He watched Danny's whole body relax as he pulled out his phone. "Thank you for not telling Grace."

"That was Rachel's call, but I wouldn't have unless she overruled me."

Steve let Danny's voice wash over him as he talked to Rachel, the change in his tone as she put Grace on the phone making Steve smile. He could listen to Danny talk to Grace for hours and it would still have him smiling, that soft patient tone one he'd have sworn Danny was incapable of the first time they met.

Danny hung up after a few minutes, his body showing the strain of having pretended to be normal for Grace. "Why not catch a little sleep?" Steve suggested. "We're still 45 minutes from home."

"Thirty, the way you drive," Danny replied, but the words were slurred again, and his eyes were already closing as he settled into the corner between the seat and the door. He slept the rest of the drive, only stirring when Steve shut the engine off in front of his house. By the time Steve had made it around to the passenger side, Danny was struggling his way out of the car. Steve put a hand out, grabbing Danny's bicep. "I can walk," Danny grumbled, immediately stumbling, Steve's hand the only thing keeping him on his feet.

"I see that hot shot," Steve said, keeping his hand firmly in place as they walked up to the house. Only when they were inside did he let go, keeping a close eye on Danny, who was finally looking as though he might be able to stay on his feet for a few minutes, at least. He was also looking somewhat gray from the effort. "Are you sure you shouldn't be at the hospital?"

"Yes, I am sure, and when I feel otherwise, I will let you know, so would you please, please, stop asking me that?"

Steve followed Danny into the kitchen. "I only asked once since we got home."

"Yes, I know, but I know you, and you'll keep finding reasons to ask," Danny said, reaching into the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water, "so I am making a preemptory strike and putting a moratorium on any derivation of that question."

"Derivation? Really?"

"I am tired. I am thirsty, and forbidden by medical professionals to drink beer, which you would quickly enforce, should I try to sneak one. Most of all, I hurt like have been dragged behind a truck for a mile and then tossed over a cliff. Do you really want to question my word choices right now, Steven?"

Steve shook his head. "I know what a comfort big words are to you," he said. "Abuse them all you want."

Danny glared at him over the top of the bottle he was downing in one go. When he was done, he set the empty down and grabbed two more from the fridge. "I am going to take a shower before I pass out," he said, favoring his bad knee as he brushed past Steve, who followed up the stairs. "If I don't come out in an hour, come find me."

He followed Danny into the bedroom, watching silently as he put the bottles by the bed and stripped, tossing the clothes in the floor as he moved into the bathroom. Steve picked up the clothes, dropping them in the hamper and making a mental note to ask later if Danny would rather get rid of them. He thought the shirt was pretty much ruined from blood, but he didn't dare make that or any other decision for Danny right now. The hamper was just so he didn't have to look at the reminder. Not that he wanted to be left behind in the first place. He wanted to be in the shower with Danny, but he wasn't sure of his welcome.

Fuck it. He was doing what he wanted. If Danny didn't want him there, he could tell him to get out. That decided, he stripped on the way to the bathroom, opening the glass shower door quietly and stepping inside. Danny was standing under the spray, eyes closed, an expression of exhausted bliss on his face. "It hasn't been an hour yet," he muttered, but with no real heat in his tone and a small smile on his lips.

"So sue me." Steve picked up the soap, lathering his hands. "Here," he said, hands on Danny's shoulders, turning him around until his back was facing Steve. He started cleaning Danny's shoulders, half washing, half massaging until Danny groaned, leaning back a little into the touch. Steve's hands moved slowly down Danny's arms then to his torso checking carefully along the way for any sign that Danny was more seriously injured than he'd let on, but finding nothing particularly worrying, under the circumstances.

"Remind me to get kidnapped more often," Danny murmured.

"That's not funny." The words fell far short of the light tone Steve had hoped for.

Danny turned without breaking the hold Steve had on his waist. "Sorry. But it's over. Hesse is dead. We're not. These are all good things."

"I know. It's just..." Steve looked at the shower door for a moment, as if the words he wanted would appear there, but no such luck. "I would rather have traded places with you," he said, his voice low.

"I know," Danny said just as quietly. "It's not your fault, though, and you can't protect everybody or jump in front of every metaphorical bullet, even if you think the bullet was meant for you."

"It's not that--well, not just that," he amended at Danny's look. " I would rather have been tied up and tortured than out there without a clue where you were, what he was doing to you and if I was going to get you back alive."

The corner of Danny's mouth curled up. "You saying you would've missed me?"

"I _did_ miss you," Steve said forcefully. "But...." He sighed, eyes darting to the door again before meeting Danny's once more. "I'm trained to be the one in danger. I can handle that in my sleep. Have, actually. But being the one on the other end...they don't train us for that."

"You mean there's actually a flaw in the superior SEAL training," Danny teased. "I am stunned. You know what? We should go call the secret SEAL schools right now and let them know. They need to fix this."

"Asshole," Steve said, losing his anger in the face of Danny being...well, Danny. "I'm serious," he said, though, trying to make Danny understand. "I kept having to push away the million and one thoughts of how badly it could end. Hesse smirking as he put a bullet in your brain, you in a body bag, having to break the news to Grace, a funeral...." He looked down at his hand on Danny's shoulder, feeling the warm skin, the hot water droplets from the shower spray. He was here. He was fine. But...."I don't know how much longer I could've kept all that at bay if we hadn't caught a break."

Danny's hand found its way to the back of Steve's neck. "You could've kept it at bay as long as you needed," he said quietly. "Because you do what needs to be done to get the job done. Yeah, maybe it was a little harder because you don't have a lot of practice, but I'm betting you had to build up to that whole holding your breath underwater for ten minutes thing, too."

"I can't hold my breath underwater for ten minutes," Steve said.

"Another illusion shattered," Danny said, shaking his head in mock sadness. "Don't beat yourself up, babe," he added softly. "Even the best of us are faking it while secretly scared shitless on the inside. We just have more practice at it."

"I'll take your word for it," Steve said, leaning down for a kiss. His body was already reacting eagerly to naked, wet Danny, but he shut it down as best he could. Danny was in no shape for anything more than this tonight. "We should dry off before we turn into raisins."

Danny nodded, stepping back to turn off the water before following Steve out of the shower. He let Steve dry him off with a look that totally said "I'm humoring you," and didn't even complain when Steve kept his hands on Danny's shoulders and basically steered him to the bed. He climbed obediently into bed, waiting for Steve so he could curl himself around Steve's body before he dropped off to sleep.

Steve lay there for a long time, listening to Danny breathe and soaking in his heat, before he finally drifted off.

***


	10. Chapter 10

Danny woke slowly, darkness giving way to the sense something was wrong. He shifted, then felt the bed beside him and realized it was empty. Sitting up slowly, he listened, hearing only a faint unidentified noise downstairs.

He pulled his gun from the nightstand as quietly as possible, climbing out of the bed and padding silently to the door and down the stairs, gun first. The noise was coming from the dining room, and he peeked slowly around the corner, gun ready to rise at the first sign of trouble.

Steve was sitting at his father's desk, flipping through papers by the dim lamp, and Danny let out a long breath, the tension draining from his shoulders. "Hey," he said quietly, putting his gun on the dining room table.

"Hey," Steve said, glancing up with a faint smile.

Moving to Steve's side, Danny could see the papers were actually pictures. "Are those the pictures Mary took of the evidence?"

Steve nodded, leaning back in the chair and rubbing a hand over his face. He dropped the pictures on the other side into the toolbox and flipped the lid closed.

"When did you get the toolbox back?"

"I picked it up yesterday."

And he was keeping pictures of the evidence in it. Danny wasn't even touching that tonight. "You couldn't sleep?"

Shaking his head as he reached for his beer, Steve took a long drink. "I slept a little."

"The nightmare?"  Steve's eyes flew to Danny's face. "Oh, come on, I sleep in the same bed, you seriously think you never woke me up? And you can stop looking so guilty about that--unless that guilt is about trying to hide the nightmares, and I seriously doubt it is."

"I wasn't hiding anything," Steve muttered, staring at the bottle in his hands. "What is there to tell? You've already heard about the phone call with Hesse the day my father died; there's no reason we both have to relive it over and over."

Perching himself on the edge of the desk, Danny used his foot to nudge Steve in the hip. "Hesse is dead," he said softly. "The nightmares will go away in time."

"I know."

His tone clearly said he didn't. "We'll figure the rest of that out, too," Danny said, waving a hand at the toolbox. "But not tonight."

"I know." Steve looked down at the box for a moment, then up at Danny. "Something still doesn't add up. Why didn't Hesse know about the pictures? And why was it so easy to find you?"

"Easy?" Danny folded his arms over his chest. "I can show you quite a few injuries that say otherwise."

Steve waved a hand. "Not to minimize your suffering," he said, "but given the other times Hesse took hostages against me...."

A dead father and ten million up in smoke and all of them on the wire for it. Not that they were on the wire anymore, and they still didn't know who to thank or blame for that one, either. "You think it has something to do with the mysterious returning money at the HPD locker?"

"I'm not sure what to think anymore."

"Maybe you should try to get some sleep before the sun is finished coming up and try thinking when you're awake," Danny said, nodding at the horizon, where the first tinges of pink were beginning to show. "Unless you think it'll trigger another nightmare."

Steve frowned. "Trigger...." He opened the toolbox and pulled the pictures back out, setting three shots of his mother's murder scene side by side. "Danny, look at this."

Danny leaned over the desk, his arm pressed against Steve's. "What am I looking at?"

"Here." Steve pointed, leaning in to squint, then shook his head and opened a couple of the desk drawers until he found a magnifying glass. He held it over part of the engine in each of the three pictures. "Fuck. I'm an idiot."

"I'm missing something. What am I missing?"

"I was comparing the two pictures that were left behind at the scenes," Steve said, shifting the magnifying glass back and forth across the three pictures. "I didn't think to look at the original. Jesus, it was right in front of me."

Danny waved a hand in front of Steve's face, breaking his focus. "Can you explain for those of us who are too tired to figure this out?"

"Look at the engine, right here, on the original," Steve said, holding the magnifying glass over a spot on the original picture and pointing.

"Okay...it's a bomb fragment."

"Right. Now look at this one." He held it over the same spot on one of the new prints. "That's not the same fragment."

"Exactly."

Danny tapped his finger on the picture, thinking. "So someone altered the picture trying to make you think someone else set the bomb?"

"That's what I'm thinking. I'm also thinking they don't know I have these," he added, putting a hand on the rest of the pictures. "Otherwise why go through that trouble?"

"Well, that is good news. We might actually be one step ahead of them."

"I'm also thinking," Steve said more slowly, "that if we look, we'll find this signature matches one Hesse was using around then. It looks like it could be an early version of his style."

"You think they wanted you to blame Hesse and kill him, maybe make you think you'd solved your mother's murder?"

Steve nodded. "It's possible."

"Well," Danny said, wincing as he tried to stretch, "if we're going to go chasing these guys, I at least need coffee."

"Danny, go get some more sleep. They'll still be there in a few hours."

Danny was shaking his head before Steve finished. "If you're going after them, I'm going with you."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Right, and as soon as I'm out you'll--"

"I promise I won't." Steve's face softened into what Danny liked to call his 'you're my idiot' smile. "You look like hell. A few hours won't make a difference here," he said, pointing at the pictures, "but it will for you."

Danny considered it. "On one condition," he said finally. "You get some sleep, too."

"I'm not tired."

"Steven."

"I'm not tired."

Rolling his eyes, Danny tugged on Steve's arm, pulling him out of the chair. "Fine, then come be a pillow."

"Danny--"

"You want me to sleep?"

"You need to sleep." Danny gave him a look. "You're not going up there unless I go are you?" Steve asked. Danny just continued to look at him. "Fine. I'll go."

He knew his smile was more of a smirk, but Steve didn't seem to mind as Danny dragged him back toward the stairs.

***

The cell phone interrupted the last of his morning exercises, normally an annoyance not to be tolerated, but under the circumstances.... He let out a deep breath and picked up the phone. "Yes?"

"Victor Hesse is dead," Sang Min said.

"McGarrett?"

"Yes. He killed Hesse saving Williams."

"Good. And the pictures?"

"McGarrett has them both."

"Well done. Your wife and son will be waiting for you as arranged."

He heard the hesitation before Sang Min's next words. "And we can leave the island now?"

"Of course. Thank you for your assistance."

"Thank you, sir."

The line went dead and Wo Fat allowed himself the smallest of satisfied smiles as he put the phone down and went back to his exercises.

\----

END

**Author's Note:**

> Want to learn more about me and my writing? Visit my page at <http://www.jamiemeadowswrites.com/>


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